Don't Leave Me Analysis

This film, 'Don't Leave Me' (A short film written by John Ward and directed by Nicolai Amter), follows a similar narrative to 'Brother'. However it does have many differences through who the characters are and what they do. The major aspect of this film I want to use is the emotional effect it has on the audience.
The film happens in three sections, I am going to refer to these as the stabbing, the confrontation and the buildup becuase the film isn't shown in cronological order.

Mise-En-Scene
The Stabbing
The films opening shot consists of a close-up of blood on a wooden panel floor. The droplets of blood instantly raise the tension of the film before any of the characters or narrative are revealed. This raise in tension in the opening shot is paramount to the effect the rest of the short film has. I want to use this instant raise in tension during the first shot to set the audience and rest of the film up to have the emotional affect I want to achieve. The blood is also a very dark colour, almost black in the light of the room, this also raises the tension as blood is a very horrid thing to see and causes a natural reaction in people. The stark brightness of the wooden floor also makes the blood look a lot darker than it is, helping the discomforting feeling it gives the audience. This shot then goes to a very quick sequence of shots showing the woman dropping the blood covered scissors, causing a reaction in the audience as we see the scissors as a weapon and the blood indicates that someone has been stabbed. The woman's face who drops the scissors enhances the reaction that happens in the audience, although at this point in the narrative the audience doesn't completely know the events that lead up to the stabbing. I want to have this kind of discomfort although I do not want to compile my film out of  chronological order.
The colour tones used in the first section of the film, the stabbing section, are desaturated and lack vibrance. This tone makes the scene feel very cold and distant which causes a very unnatural feel to the film. the colour desaturation then causes the audience to feel sympathy for the woman but makes them feel cold to what is happening.
From the way that the first woman holds the woman who was stabbed the audience understands that they are very close. This is shown becuase the woman places her hand on her face and holds her face up, the audience also knows it's a loving relationship because of the crying in the scene. The effect this creates in the audience has a similar discomfort and sorrow that I want to end my film, when the younger brother and his girlfriend are crying on the floor. I will not however use quiet crying like this film, although it has a similar effect by creating sympathy in the audience, I want to use loud screams which are more animalistic which will create a stronger feeling of discomfort than quiet reserved, but emotional crying.
The Confrontation
The second section opens with a two person close-up, which shows both characters talking to one another. This is the second part in the narrative if it was compiled in cronological order. The colour tone in this section is similar to the first because it is very desaturated and cold but the natural ambient light coming from the windows lifts the colour in the room and makes it more appealing, although it is still cold. This colour difference from the first section, it being slightly warmer, is a parralelle with the narrative as it is less emotional and more normal, although one of the women is a ghost.
The room is set up and dressed in a very typical way, the globe and board in the left on the desk. This presents the women as very normal and the narrative causes the audience to notice that their life before the event of the girls death, as we assume she is a ghost.
There are many shots used in the scene that consist of one of the girls being in the foreground and to the right or left while the other is shown in the background. This shows that they are close because they are talking directly to each other but it means that the camera work is functunal during the dialogue sequences.
The scene then turns very intense as the confrontation begins, this confrontation sequence then shows that one of the girls is very controling and dominant as she pushes the other against a wall and holds her around the waist when the confrontation starts. This causes the audience to turn a distaste toward her and the confrontation itself is very discomforting to see as it shows the anger and agression.
The build-up
The major aspect in the third section of 'Don't Leave Me' is the use of much warmer and more vivid colours like the red of the seat and pillows, and the light brown of the curtians. This is because this section of the film is the begining of the conflict which leads to the stabbing. Because it is at the begining of the film it has the most saturation and colour because it has the least conflict and has a much less intense atmostphere.
Another controling aspect of the sequence is the emphasis on ring, and because it is on the wedding finger we assume that the couple in the film are married. This allows the filmmaker to make the audience think back to the restof the film and allows them to figure out what happens through the narrative. I like this effect and style although I think that it wouldn't work for the narrative I want to use as it is based on a set of fixed events, the stabbing, the conflict and the realisation. This doesn't allow me to use this technique as I am using a much more flowing narrative.

Cinematography
The Stabbing
The films opening shot consists of a close-up of blood on a wooden panel floor, this allows the audience to assume events before they see the actual events occur. This is the major aspect of the film becuase it is about the audience making assumptions before the actual events take place.
Throughout the first section of the film many close-ups are used, the blood, hand and faces of the women. This is because they show the emotion in what is happening to the women. The close-ups and mid-shots also only show little of the entire scene, this is because the filmmaker wants the audience to assume the narrative before understanding it, making them think about what is happening. I want to use this technique of only showing very little of the narrative at a time by hiding what happened to the older brother until later on in the film, this will then make the audience assume and create what has happened, which could give a stronger emotional effect on them when the cause of death is revealed.
We see a slight high angle shot looking down at the dead woman, this allows us to see her desaturated face and cloths, but also makes her seem weak and vulnerable while the other woman holds her and cries. I will use a high angle shot to show the younger brother at the end of my film as it will make him look small and vulnerable possibly enhancing the audiences sympathy for him.
The close-up of the womans mouth when she says 'but at least this way we can be together forever'. This has a very strong impact on the audience as it is very sinister considering that at this point the full narrative isn't revealed. And becuase it isn't revealed this line causes the audience to queistion what is happening.
The Confrontation
In the second part we see many mid shots showing both the women while they are talking, this is because this is the section where the confrontation happens.
We very rairly see a shot which shows the full body of either women. This is because this section is made to show the characters confrontation with one another and is based around the two characters and not them individually. This is shown mostly in mid-shots. The only other shots that are used are a close-up and a mid to long shot ofthe woman walking around the room. The close-up is used to show the womans face, which emphasis the confusion and slight anger. The other shot that stands out is the high angle shot when the woman is pushed over, this show her weakness for a moment and also allowsus to seethe build up of the anger.
The Build-up
In section 3 the build up starts with a close-up of the womans face as she stares down at the other woman. This puts her in power over the other woman because she is the first in shot and is alone. Overall she also has more screen time giving her more control over the narrative.
A few shots later we see another close-up of the weaker womans face as she is carressed gently. This shows that one woman has more power and it also show that one of the characters is loving and the other is scared. This shows a power and fear between the characters, which seperates the characters for the audience. This is an aspect I may use because I want to create a seperation between the younger brother and his girlfriend by showing one character distracted or angry.

Sound
The Stabbbing:
The isolated diegetic sound of the scissors is the first first and opening sound in the film, this adds an an importance to that object to the audience, the dropping sound then reinforces this focus on the scissors. I want to use Isolated sounds like this to cause an emotional/tense reaction in my audience e.g. the younger brothers breathing (something that is focused on in 'Daddy'.
The other isolated sound in this first scene is that of the womans voice as she holds her dyeing lover. I want to use isolated dialogue with no other sound during my film as it makes the characters seem more real and human, attaching the audience and the characters.
The non-diegetic spound in this scene is the oboe and piano in minor keys, because they are going down in key connotes emotion rather than tension to the audience, this is an effect I want to use in my film as it creates the emotional impact I wish to achieve. They also use a single violin string to create an eerie and chilling atmosphere, which make sthe audience uncomfortable by enhancing what is happening on screen.
The Confrontation:
During this scene there is a strong use of dialogue from both characters as this is the scene where emotions and the narrative creates tension. This is done because one charater is distressed for seeing her 'dead(?)' girlfriend in her house, and the other is angry because she feels she is being forgotten/replaced, we know this because she picks out items in the room which didn't belong to either of them and she asks where her things are. We also know from the dialogue in this scene that one of the women is more dominant than the other as she begins to get angry and threatening very quickly while the other instantly becomes submisive. This is a good aspect of the film, however not something I can look into as there is very little conflict in my film as it more focused on inner and personal conflict.
The non-diegetic sound in this scene is silent for the first set of dialogue as the dialogue itself is used to alter the emotions of the audience. When there is violence however the sound comes back and creates a very tense scene becuase the tone of the key goes up and the base stays high which increases the effect on the audience. When the final pieces of dialogue are shouted 'burn in hell you b*t**' the sound increases and we hear the sound effect of a sharp intake of breath as the woman runs to attack with the scissors.
The Build-up
During the first section of this scene the dialogue is spoken without non-diegetic music, although this lack of non-diegetic sound means that the dialogue spoken must create emotion in the audience. When she starts to talk we hear a slight reverb which instantly makes the audience feel that she isn't real or that she is ghost, and at this point in the narrative the audience has realised that she isn't real. This feeling in the audience is completely secured when they say 'where's my ring'. 'I put it in your coffin', these lines and the reverb on the voice make the audience rethink the rest of the film and realise why things happen. I want to use this technique of reverb on the voice as it gives a good effect, however it wouild not fit into my narrative as I do not want to the audience to realise that the older brother is dead, I wonly want to imply this and reinforce it at the end.
During this scene there are non-diegetic high pitch synthetic sounds, which are similar to metal being played when we see the ghostly character on screen. This sound reinforces her antagoinistc personality. The music then cuts out as the dialogue continues as that has a  higher impact on the audience and makes the characters feel more real.

Edit
The narrative structure for 'Don't Leave Me' subverts traditional narrative as it is composited backwards. This structure makes the film itself much more interesting for the audience and changes the effects that are caused in the audience. During the film however there are no dissolves or any other unnatural transitions. However to cut between the different time sections a fade to black is used, this shows the audience that one scene is ending, we also see the fade into the next scene. There is a good effect to have on the audience as it changes the films narrative and it makes the scene change. However during my film I will use simple cuts, although they will be quick and natural, except for the transition between the dream section and the young brother in bed.